Rabat – Despite the prevailing challenges in the Moroccan education sector, Moroccans cannot help but be proud of the Al Qarawiyyin University in Fez. The historic university was the first-degree granting educational institution in the world, according to UNESCO and the Guinness World Records.
The university opened in 859, issued a medical bachelor’s degree in 1207AD to a Moroccan doctor Abdellah Bensaleh El-Koutami, who practiced medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary science.
A committee of three members, including Diae-Eddine Ibn Albaytar, Ahmed Ennabti and Ahmed El-Ichbili, granted the qualification to the doctor.
The diploma was written on deer parchment in Arabic-Andalusian calligraphy.
The content of the degree acknowledges the expertise of the student in the medical field, including veterinary science and pharmacy.
Al Qarawiyyin is one of the most renowned universities across the world for its historic setting, including a mosque and a library.
Fatima A-Fihriya, the daughter of a rich merchant family who immigrated to Fez from the town of Qayrawan in modern Tunisia, founded the university.
Al Fihriyya named the university, library, and the mosque after her hometown of Qayrawan, where she was born in A.D 800.
The university is one of the most influential institutions in history.
The 12th-century library was named among the 100 world’s greatest places in 2018, according to the Times.
The still-operating library is home to some of the world’s most priceless manuscripts, dating back to the 9th century, including an old version of Qur’an, written in Kufic script on the skin of a camel, and one of the earliest collections of hadiths (accounting the sayings of Prophet Mohammed and his daily practices).
The library also boasts an Arabic version of the Gospel that dates back to the 12th century A.D. and a 12th-century astronomy text and 14th-century text on jurisprudence.
The total number of books and manuscripts in the library is estimated at 30,000.
Renowned scholars and historians, including Andalusi geographer Hassan al Wazzan (Leo Africanus), Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), Islamic philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), historiographer and thinker Ibn Khaldun all studied at the legendary institute.
Sufi poet and philosopher Ibn Hazm also studied at the university.
The university continues to enrich the knowledge of scholars and students from across the world, in several fields, including astronomy, medicine, Islamic law, and literature.
